What you may or may not also know is that Kendrick dropped his fourth studio album, DAMN., on April 14, and it has been steadily blowing up the damn internet every day since.

Last week on Apple Music, Zane Lowe sat down with Kendrick on Beats 1 Radio to talk DAMN., the state of hip-hop, and the artistic philosophy that made this good kid from Compton one of rap's most indispensable voices.

Quote: "I want to give [DAMN.] to the people and let them take it and live with it, and breathe it. And then when I come back on that stage, that's when I wanna feel it. That's when I wanna see your reaction. Because I can't get that same reaction on the internet, y'know, through some comments."

Quote: "I want [DAMN.] to live for the next 20 years, so you have to listen to it over and over and over again to fully understand the direction, the message, the execution that I put in there. And I want you to do that. I want to challenge the way you think and the way you take in music."

Quote: "I've always wanted to work with Rihanna; I love everything about her. Her artistry, how she represents women — you know, to not only be themselves, but to express themselves. The way she expresses herself through music and the way she carries herself, I love everything about her."

Quote: "I love [hip-hop] to a point I can't even describe it... I'm not doing it to have a good song, or one good rap, or a good hook, or a good bridge. I wanna keep doing it every time. And to do it every time you have to challenge yourself and confirm to yourself — not anybody else — confirm to yourself that you're the best."

5.Kendrick on how his conversations with President Obama shifted his focus inward when writing DAMN.

Quote: "What I took from that experience was the idea of knowing that it's gonna take more than just an eight-year or a four-year idea of 'change.' Being a kid when he was elected...I got the idea that shit was gonna do a 360 (snaps) like that. He sat me down and said, "Change don't start while I'm here. It starts once we leave the space that we're [each individually] in."

Quote: "This is culture. This is not something you just play with to get a few dollars and get out. People live their lives to this music. Period... You can't play with this, and you have to take into consideration what you write down on that paper."

Quote: "I'm not even thinking about right now. This album has to live and teach... This album has to teach not only in these times, but for the future. To understand all the history and what we was going through."

Quote: "To expose yourself even more, to have that closer connection with another human and have them relate to it. Y'know it's not easy telling your truth and things that you fear... But I know at the end of the day the music is not for me. It's for somebody else that's going through a fucked-up day to listen to and progress in their lives."

Quote: "When I listened to Jay Z coming up as a kid, when I listened to Eminem or Pac, there was things that I couldn't understand. But as years progressed and I went back and listened again, and I've grown and I've matured, these thing blew me away when I found out what they was talking about ... and stories that they told growing up in their communities and their whole perspective of it. I love to have that same type of impact on my listener."

10.Kendrick on his album-closing stunner "Duckworth," which recounts the story of his father's brush with death.

Quote: "Further than the song, when you really can hear your life in words that are so true to you, that affected your life 100% through one decision, it really makes you sit back and cherish the moment. Like, 'Man, look where we at.'"

Check out DAMN. and the full interview with Kendrick Lamar and Zane Lowe on Apple Music. Hit the link!